Raven's Death Sentence
by Grey Rain
Summary: WORK-IN-PROGRESS! When Raven is blamed for a teen's death, the other Titans turn on her. Raven will do anything to get their trust back...even if it means that she may never get to be with Beast Boy. Note: Written BEFORE the one where Slade comes back. (S
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I WISH that I owned the Teen Titans. That "wish" indicates that I don't. TT Wah:(

Okay people, you wanted another story...SO HERE IT IS! This is a work-in-progess, I repeat: A WORK-IN-PROGRESS! It IS NOT finished, but please keep checking for updates.

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Raven's Death Sentence

Chapter 1: Prologue

Raven ducked a punch that was aimed for her head & sent a blast of black energy at her attacker. She wasn't really sure whom she'd hit until she saw Ember fall backwards. The Titans were fighting a group called the Elements, a small gang of burglars who'd been blessed with powers. Their members were Ice, Ember, Stone, Gale, Aqua, & Storm, & their powers were ice, fire, rock-moving, gusts of wind, control of water, & rain, respectively. Raven heard Robin shout another one of his crappy leader lines to Storm as she swung her fist right into Stone's face: something she didn't do often, but today was an exception. This fight had been going on for an hour, the cops hadn't shown up yet, & these six cocky thieves refused to admit to defeat. Stone tried to block by grabbing Raven's arm, but she swore under her breath & flipped him over her shoulder. If she hadn't been to busy trying to get of the way of Starfire's Star volts, she would've heard B.B. whistle & cheer her on. As it was, she still had to jump out of the way of one of Robin's poorly aimed swings with his Foe-stick. Swearing yet again, she rolled out of the way & lie panting on the ground for a moment. That moment was all she needed to see Ice slink behind a building. She shouted that she was going after him to the Titans, but they didn't hear her. She ran after him & found herself in a dark alley. She heard the sound of footsteps beside her lit the area with her powers just in time to see Ice shoot a dozen or so razor-sharp ice crystals at her. Immediately, she built a force-field up around herself & swung them back at him. He ducked them while aiming another blast at her. He didn't have a chance to, however, because she kicked him savagely in the jaw. He screamed in pain as the blood made its way done his chin; she'd broken his jaw. Lividly, he fired another round of crystals at her that she barely had time to dodge. All of the sound, chains rattled behind her as light filled the alley & man cleared the fence in a single bound: Slade. She'd whispered the word without knowing she had. She was in shock. Slade was dead. She'd seen him die. But he was standing in front of her. He was a ghost. He couldn't be a ghost, his form was solid. But he was glowing. But he couldn't be a ghost because he was too far from the place he'd been burned to death at. _It doesn't matter! _her mind screamed at her. _He's going to kill you!_ This whole exchange hadn't even filled the space of three seconds. Deciding her mind was right, she hit him full on with black energy & wrapped the chain-link fence around him so tight that he shouldn't have been able to breathe. But he did more than breathe, he broke it. Without hesitating, he swung at her hard in the back of her head with a pole remarkably like Robin's Foe-stick. The last thing she heard before dark unconsciousness washed over her was Ice's dying scream & the metallic clang of Slade's pole as he dropped it on the cement.

Chapter 2: Mutiny

When Raven came to, she was lying on the couch in the Tower. Her head ached so badly that she thought she would retch, but she forced her stomach still so she could sit up. Bad idea. The room spun in wild circles around her & she fell back on the cushions, squeezing her eyes shut & moaning in pain. She heard Cyborg's voice through her haze of pain like a loud siren, & her head hurt even worse. When she opened her eyes, she saw the others standing around, judgment in their hard eyes.

"Wha-what happened?" she muttered. Her words came distorted & slurred with pain. The effort of speaking made her head ache again, & she clutched it in pain.

"You're suffering from a concussion," Robin said in his you-did-something-that-I-don't-like tone. "You're lucky you didn't die."

"I don't understand," she muttered. "How did I get a concussion?"

"Somebody whacked the crap outta your head," Beast Boy explained, an undercurrent of anger & disappointment thickening his tone.

"Who? When? What happened? What's wrong?" she asked thickly through her pain. Starfire's eyes were sad.

"You went off to do battle against Ice while were doing battle with the other Elements," the Tamerainian explained sadly.

"We think it was you who broke his jaw," Cyborg continued, "but we're not sure."

"But then someone came else came along," Beast Boy took over, "& knocked you out."

"And while you were down," Robin cut in, "That person killed Ice." He showed her a pole that looked remarkably like his Foe-stick before continuing. "With this." Raven's head spun madly. Someone had been murdered. With a Foe-stick. She had been knocked out when it happened. She could've saved him. But she was out cold when it happened. Suddenly she understood the reason for their angry glares & accusing tones. They blamed her. They thought it was her fault that Ice was dead. Or worse. They might think that she killed him. She looked at them with beseeching eyes, searching their glances, looking for an ally. She found none. She wanted to scream at them, to ask them if they seriously thought it was her fault, to ask them if they believed that she killed him or could've stopped his murderer, to ask if they trusted her that little; but she couldn't. Her throat felt like it had caved in on itself & her mind was swirling with disappointment & sorrow. Her mouth felt too dry to form the words & she simply couldn't bring herself to look at the people who had once been her friends; to face the distrust in the people she'd considered her family. She couldn't take. Gritting her teeth against a cry of pain, she got to her feet. Vaguely, she heard someone protesting, saying that she should lie down, as someone else started to cry, but she didn't care. All she could think about was getting away from them. Mutiny. It was mutiny, & it was pain. She had to force her emotions under control as well as her physical pain. She could barely stand, let alone walk, so she forced herself to fly. It was just about all she could do, lacking the concentration, to get up in the air. She could hear her own ragged breathing as drug her body towards the elevator in what seemed like an interminable march of exile. Her whole life for almost three years had revolved around those four people who had just given her a horrible death sentence. She forced herself to remain numb as she stepped unsteadily into the elevator. As it rocked upward, her mind screeched at her to sit down, to lie down, but she stood to defy her tormentors. She wouldn't allow herself to give into her pains, either type of them, by sitting or crying out, but she couldn't stifle the convulsions of agony that ripped through her body. When the elevator finally jerked to a stop, she raised her head defiantly & glared briefly at the camera mounted on the wall, knowing that her old team would be watching her. She forced her expression to be emotionless, but her eyes told them everything she wanted them to know. Then, collecting herself, she began the walk to her room. It was just as bad physically as the walk to the elevator had been, but it was easier emotionally without the traitors watching her. Finally, she reached her door & punched her barely remembered code on the key pad & waited for the door to slide open. She stepped inside, waited until the door was closed, & collapsed in a broken heap onto the floor. Although she was tormented to cry, her body couldn't take anymore self-instructed control or endurance. She retched, vomiting all over the floor, forced herself into bed where she slipped, yet again, into unconsciousness. Her dreams, long & horrendous, were filled with images of her teammates chaining the corpse of some unrecognized villain around her neck & forcing her to carry his weight for the rest of her haunted life.

Chapter 3: "They Don't Trust You."

When Raven awoke, she had no idea of the time, date, or even month, but she did remember what had happened in the alleyway. Slade had killed Ice, Slade had come back from the dead & killed Ice, leaving his token so they would know he was back. But the others were too stupid to think of it, & too cruel to realize that it wasn't her fault.

"They don't trust you," she said to herself, "so don't trust them. Looks like it's back to square one." Her throat was parched, her stomach was empty, & her body longed for a Tylenol, but she would leave her room until she was sure that she wouldn't see them. She walked over to her curtain & opened it gingerly, expecting the cruel glare of sunlight to further assault her head. Mercifully, the glare never came. It was nighttime, and judging by the position of the moon it was around midnight. Assured that she wouldn't have to see her team, she went downstairs, ate a sandwich, drank about a gallon of water, went to the bathroom, & headed back upstairs with an old rag, a can of carpet cleaner, & her Book of Azar. When she got back to her room, she scrubbed the spot where she'd thrown up furiously, ashamed of her weakness. When that task was done, she picked up her mirror & took a nice long trip to her own mind. Once there, the first emotion she meet was Sorrow. She was weeping hysterically, tears streaking her pale skin.

"They hate me!" she cried as Raven approached. "They hate us! It wasn't our fault!" Guilt suddenly stepped out of the shadows, her blown cloak fluttering in the cold breeze.

"Yes it is. Everything's my fault. Everything. If I'd have been awake none of this wouldn't have happened. If I'd been alert enough to tell that someone was behind me, or quick enough to stop him, or smart enough not to have gone into a dark alley after a villain, none of it would've happened. It's _all **my **fault."_ With a horrendous wail, Sorrow threw her arms around Guilt & sobbed heavily. Suddenly, a rarely felt, light-green clad emotion stepped out of the shadows.

"It's not like it matters anyway. If it was _Terra's_ fault they wouldn't have blamed her. They just don't trust us. They don't trust our shadows, our powers, our _darkness_. They don't even stop to think that we should be trusted more than anyone, seeing as how we've_you_ have given up _all_ feeling so those selfish jerks, villains, & countless other ungrateful strangers could live in safety. They don't realize how you have to keep yourself from laughing at every one, or...at least some, of Beast Boy's jokes, or how you had to restrain yourself from slitting that evil b Terra's throat every time you saw her, or how you had to choke me out every time you saw her with _him_, or strangle poor Love over there every time he smiled at you, or tame the urge to cry every time you had to crush his poor heart to keep him safe. I hate them all, except him. And I hate that you never let me out, even though you can't. And I hate that he's still got it bad for that b, Terra. I'm just so...so..."

"Jealous?" asked a higher-pitched, slightly nasalized version of Raven's monotone. Knowledge, clad in her yellow cloak & armed with the Book of Azar, walked up to them. "That could be because you are...Jealousy, I mean. But, for once, you're thinking logically. They _should_ trust us the most out of everyone, it _wasn't_ our fault, & Terra _is _a...well...you know. Oh, and Guilt, it's not our fault, so don't worry. Statistically speaking, there was 1 in 612.4 chances that we actually could have stopped from killing Ice. Those numbers, however, don't state that we would've been killed in the process...most likely. Console yourself, all of you. Do not torment yourselves with the other Titan's errors in calculations." Raven, the real Raven, raised an eyebrow.

"Surprisingly, this isn't helping. Any of it. Guilt, your doubt is depressing, & so are you Sorrow. And Intellect, your 'superior genius' is rather upsetting also. Just go, all of you. Yes, Jealousy, you too." Raven ordered the scowling image of herself. They frowned & vanished immediately. She sighed deeply & reviewed their words in her mind. "_Everything's my fault,"_ Guilt had said. It was true. Raven always seemed to be at least partially to blame for almost everything bad that happened. No one would ever try to deny it. Jealousy was also right. Raven _had_ given up everything for people who didn't even care. Raven _did_ have to keep herself from laughing at some of the things Beast Boy said or did. The "stank ball" (see Spellbound) was a hilarious, if disgusting & highly immature, prospect. And she _did_ have to keep herself from killing Terra, or at least seriously disfiguring her bulimic little body. Raven had never trusted Terra, something in the back of her mind always nagged at her that something horrid would come of it, but somehow that little b had gotten her to ignore it. She remembered how she'd felt a few moments after she'd lost that fight with Terra. She'd phased herself through the ground & into a sewer pipe which Terra had failed to notice & collapsed onto her knees. At first, there was an overwhelming rage. Terra...Terra...Terra...Terra...Terra. Was all her unstable mind could process. Her powers screamed at her to go in for the kill; for her to let them take over so she could kill Terra. After a moment however, that sheer, crimson hatred faded into dull brown shame. '_I should have realized,'_ she thought. '_I should have known. _I_'m the one who's supposed to protect the team from traitors. _I_'m who should've beaten Terra. _I_'m the one who let them down.'_ She had never hated herself so much in all her life. Jealousy had also been right about another subject. Raven was filled with a bubbling envy every single time she saw that b with Beast Boy. She'd laugh with him, flirt with him, hug him, cuddle with him, she practically even KISSED him...all the things Raven had wanted to do but had kept herself from doing so that she could keep him safe. The truth, though she'd never admit it, was that she was in love with Beast Boy. His smile made her feel like she was going to faint, & every single second he spent trying to make her laugh made the glow inside her heart burn a little bit brighter. And every time, she'd had to hurt him; had to shatter his poor soul; had to break his sweet heart; just because she didn't want to hurt him. She knew that if she let herself feel even a fraction of the joy that he gave her, she would lose control & he would die. It was that simple. Raven had to protect him, even if it killed him in the process. (Though she never stopped to think that if anyone were to die in the process of her killing off her emotions it would probably be herself.) '_No!'_ she screamed at herself. '_If you dwell on what you're doing to him you'll start to_' "Cry!" Raven whispered as she felt warm tears stream down her face. She couldn't stay in here much longer or she'd lose touch with reality & wouldn't be able to get back. Groaning inwardly, she dried her own tears & walked out of the forbidden door.

Chapter 4: Exile

Raven came tumbling out of her mirror & landed roughly on the floor. Groaning to herself, she checked the time. 3:00 a.m. She'd been in her mirror for about three hours, according to the moon. She didn't know what to do. Her team hated her, _Beast Boy_ hated her. They might as well of shot her. She couldn't stand the exile, but she wouldn't let her team know that. Her pride was wounded, but she didn't dare admit it because that would hurt it even more. Sadly, she pulled her journal our of her bookcase & began to write.

_Journal,_

_I hate them. I don't trust them. They hurt me. If they don't ever want to see me again, that's just fine. I feel exactly the same way. Those jerks think it's my fault that he's dead. I don't know if it is or not, and frankly I don't care anymore. If they could feel one fraction of the pain they've forced on me, I think they'd die. But I won't die. I won't give them that satisfaction. I'm going to live just to spite them, but I won't give them any opportunity to apologize. They will know that this is their fault, & they will feel guilty about it. And you know what? **I don't care.** I want them to feel bad, I want them to hate themselves, I want them to know that it's their fault that they're never going to see me again. No, I'm not going to leave, because that would make them happy. Instead, I'm going to stay here & make them pay. I'm going to make them feel every little ounce of pain that they've put me in. From now on, I don't live to fight evil: I live for revenge. _

_Raven_

Raven replaced the book & lied down on her bed. There was still a lump on the back of her head, & her body ached. Sighing, she forced herself into a healing trance. (See "The Beast Within".) She came out of it in the morning, the sun pouring through her dark-curtained windows. She groaned & sat up, thinking about what she should do. There was no way that she was going to go downstairs & see those ingrates, so she decided to stay in her room. Sighing, she started to meditate. A moment later, a knock at the door pulled her out.

"Fr-Raven?" Starfire's voice called. Raven scowled. Star had started to call her friend, but stop herself. "Raven, please, b-breakfast is ready. Raven?" Raven was intent on not answering, but Starfire knocked harder. If Raven didn't say something, Star would knock the door down.

"I'm not coming. Go away. NOW," she said in a cold, icy monotone. She heard Starfire whimper before padding off down the hall. Raven glared & went back to her meditation. a few hours later, however, her stomach rumbled hungrily. '_Fine,'_ she thought to herself, '_I'll go down there, but I won't speak to them.'_ She stood up & teleported herself into the kitchen, where Cy & B.B. had been eating an early lunch. They stared in open-mouthed surprise at Raven. She held a look of ice, as if she loathed to feel anything at all. Below the ice, however, she wore a look if rage. It was obvious that she didn't want to speak to them, but the feeling was mutual. Cyborg was afraid & angry, & Beast Boy had taken a new line of thinking last night. '_Even if Ice wasn't her fault,' _he thought, '_Terra was. If Raven would've offered to help, then Terra wouldn't be dead. And Raven doesn't even care! She still hates her! If Raven just would've helped her, Terra wouldn't have gone to Slade. It's Raven's fault that Terra's gone!'_ So he sat there with Cyborg, disdain on both of their faces. She walked over to the refrigerator, made herself some tea & a bowl of soup, sat down directly across from them, & ate. A stony silence roared in the air. When she was done, she washed the dish, cast them a death-glare, & left.

The next month & half went exactly the same. They hated her & she hated them. But deep down inside, Raven's shattered soul was bleeding. She couldn't take this. They didn't care what she did just so long as she did it away from them. It wasn't even avoidance...it was exile.

Chapter 5: Trying To Regain Trust

Raven sobbed, her shoulders shaking. The brown rocks bit into the skin of her knees, but she didn't care. The black space around her was echoing with sobs. Sorrow was sitting on the ground next to her, tears streaming silently down her pale face. Rage was screaming as she pulled at the chains that were holding her to a rock wall. Love was lying face down on the ground, pounding it with her fists as she writhed in pain. Happy was nowhere in sight, & Knowledge was sitting on a rock, completely lost. She didn't know what to do. Bravery had disappeared, along with Jealousy & Happy, & all that remained were distraught. Raven, the real Raven, couldn't take the pain anymore. She'd read Beast Boy's mind the night before, and what she'd heard made her want to die. She _had_ to do something to make them trust her again. She _had to!_ She couldn't live like this anymore, she just couldn't do it. She searched her mind for anything that could help. Suddenly, a random, pointless, useless thought popped into her head. A month ago, Knowledge had said something. Something that was now seeming to be _very_ important.

(Flashback)

"They _should_ trust us the most out of everyone, it _wasn't_ our fault, & Terra _is _a...well...you know," was what Knowledge had said. _Is!_ As in: Terra was alive! Normally, that thought would've enraged her, but now, she saw it as a glimmer of sacrificial hope. No matter how much she hated the b, Raven knew that if she could bring her back the others would trust her again. She stopped crying, sat up, & ran over to Knowledge.

"Is she alive?" Raven shouted. Knowledge looked up, surprised.

"Is whom alive?"

"**TERRA!**" Knowledge looked shocked.

"Yes, why?"

"How do I bring her back?"

"All you have to do is transfer some of you life-force into her. Basically, just recharge her. Then you have to break her out of the stone casing. It shouldn't be very difficult, but you'll have to heal yourself afterwards."

"How come you never told me this before?"

"1) You didn't ask. 2) You didn't want to know. But what are you-Oh! I see! But, I'm not sure that's the best way. I mean, you'll have sacrificed a part of your life for your nemesis. It will shatter your pride, & the others might still doubt you. On top of it, you do realize that Beast Boy still won't love you; he'll love her."

"SO! I don't care anymore! There's no other way! Unless Slade comes back & proves me right, I have to do this!"

"If you insist, Raven," Knowledge said, vanishing. Raven hurried out of her mind & ran downstairs. Thankfully, no one was there. She ran all the way to Terra's statue & began the ritual.

The energy transfer, Raven knew, would be the easy part. It would be breaking Terra free while she was drained of almost all of her life force that would be the hard part. It would sap her of almost all of her strength and her body would force itself into the trance, leaving Raven defenseless and alone around Terra. Raven disliked Terra at best, and having to trust Terra not to kill her while she healed was not something she wanted to do. '_But,'_ she told herself, '_you have to._' Sighing, she placed her hands on Terra's statue & chanted her spell.

"Azarath Metrione Zinthos. Azarath Metrione Zinthos. Azarath Metrione Zinthos." It was almost like meditating. She concentrated all her energy on one thing: Terra, and didn't let her thoughts stray. She forced herself to pull all of the energy in her soul with her powers and force into Terra's soul, not an easy task. Finally, however, beneath the cold stone of Terra's exterior Raven detected a flicker of life. Forcing almost all of her soul-energy into Terra's waking, Raven could barely continue chanting. Finally, all of Terra's life was restored and Raven could hear her screaming for someone to let her out. Groaning, Raven forced herself onto her feet, focused what was left of her powers on the statue, and broke the stone. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Terra's thin figure limping towards her.

When Raven awoke, she found that she was in her bedroom. She was still incredibly tired, but she wanted to see if her plan had worked. She got to her feet & walked unsteadily out the door. Her ears were greeted by the sound of laughter. Smiling to herself, she stepped into the elevator, too tired to use her powers. When she stepped out of the elevator, she'd expected to see everyone smiling & laughing & grateful that Terra was back. What she didn't expect to see, however, was B.B. & Terra making out on the couch. Her eyes widened & pain overwhelmed her. She started to run back to the elevator, but Starfire walked hesitantly up to her.

"R-Raven?" she asked, as if she was still afraid of her. "Are you well? Terra found you unconscious on the ground & brought you back here. She still does not know how she recovered from 'stone death', but she believes that it was just time that saved her. Beast Boy is...overjoyed...to see her again," Starfire said, giggling. "You should thank her," she added, then walked away, strangely quickly. Robin walked in from the other side of the room, saw Raven, & glowered at her. Giving her the evil eye, he turned away & left. Cyborg, whom Raven hadn't even noticed, got up off the couch, glared at her also, cast a significant glance at Terra & B.B., & left. Reality hit Raven like a slap in the face. They didn't know that she'd brought Terra back, so they _still_ didn't trust her. To make things worse, Terra, her worst enemy, was making out with Beast Boy, the love of her life, who _still_ hated her. Raven ran into the elevator with tears in her eyes. When the elevator stopped, she ran into her room, locked the door, & rummaged through her closet. Ever since she'd joined the Titans, she'd been keeping framed photos of each of them in a box that she'd hidden there so that one day, when she was old & dying, she could remember the only good thing that had ever happened to her in her whole life. Now, she disregarded all those thoughts as she yanked the box violently out of her closet. She threw it on her bed, tore it open, & dumped the pictures out. On the top of the pile lay a picture of herself & Starfire by a tree in the park. She grabbed it and, without thinking, hurled it at the wall as hard as she could. The sound of breaking glass filled the air as the frame shattered into a million pieces. Blindly, she threw another one, and another, and another, and another, until there was only one picture left. It was a picture of Beast Boy, smiling as always, with a playful gleam in his emerald eyes. She grabbed the picture & started to throw it, but she just couldn't do it. She held the picture in her arms, treasuring it like it was the only thing she had left. Tears were streaming down her face, more glass was breaking, & small objects hurled themselves recklessly around under the influence of Raven's uncontrolled powers. Suddenly, Cyborg crashed her door down & the other Titan's came barging inside.

"What the hell is going on!" Robin screamed.

"Get away from me!" she screamed, collapsing into a sobbing heap on the floor.

"What happened?" Cyborg demanded. That's when Starfire caught sight of the pictures that were lying on the floor.

"Look," the Tamerainian whispered, indicating the picture on the top. It was one that a grateful citizen had taken. Robin was standing in the front with Starfire & Cyborg to the right & left of him respectively. Next to Cyborg stood Beast Boy, with Terra at his side. To the far right, a little behind Starfire, stood Raven, a long, thin crack separating her from the rest of them. They stared at the dark-blue heap that was Raven as she sobbed uncontrollably. They realized that the picture was correct: Raven was a part of their team no longer.

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So...di you like it? crosses fingers If so, then please check out my other stories. And for all you people that I KNOW want to kill me because I haven't updated Fluff: I hate writer's block. ): So...please check for updates because THIS IS NOT DONE! Love ya! 


	2. The Last Part of It

Discalimer: Who owns the Teen Titans? Not me!

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Chapter 6: Pain, Proof, and Retribution

One thought ran through Raven's mind that night as she lied awake in her dark room: pain, pain, pain, pain, pain. That was all she could feel; a great, hollow pain that pushed her powers to their limits. Beast Boy hated her, the team didn't trust her, Beast Boy loved Terra, and the team trusted Terra. She was unwanted, and she didn't think she could hurt herself anymore by staying. She had to leave, she saw now; but where would she go? She would be killed if she went back to Azarath, she would be found if she stayed in Jump City, and she would be unsafe anywhere else on Earth. She was half-demon, after all. Who wants a demon around their children? It wasn't like she _had_ anywhere to go. It seemed that, until she could think out a plan, she had to stay. But that didn't mean that she had to stay in reality, she realized: she could go in her mirror! But she didn't have time to test her theory before blackness clouded her mind as she crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

When Beast Boy had seen Terra, he thought he would die of happiness. His first love had returned to him at last. And now that she was with him, it was all he could do to let her leave his sight for a moment. He wanted to be with her every moment in case she left him again. He didn't think he could bear that kind of pain again; the one girl that had accepted him, torn from his arms and cast in stone. He thought he would die. That was when, for the first time, he wondered what Raven was feeling. He had never really thought that Raven had been responsible for Ice's death in any way, so he'd blamed her for Terra. But now Terra was back, so he had no reason to blame her; and yet he simply couldn't go and apologize to her for ruining her life and expect everything to be right again. In truth, he knew that, even if the rest of the team _did_ apologize, Raven would never forgive them. How could they? When they'd accepted her as part of the team, they'd all decided to ask a promise from everyone. Robin asked if everyone would promise to care about even if he acted like he didn't care about them. Cyborg asked if everyone would promise to look _beyond _the metal and know him for who he truly was. Starfire asked if everyone would promise to love even if she was strange. Beast Boy had asked if everyone would promise to remember that even _he_ could be sad. And Raven…Raven had asked if they would promise not to reject her with silence.

"I've been hated in silence by too many people," she'd said, staring at the ground. "I would rather you cause problems and shout at me than to be completely ignored." But, of all the ironies, that was exactly what they'd done: they'd betrayed her. All of the sudden, Beast Boy was bombarded with guilt. He, as well as the rest of them, had betrayed Raven's trust. She'd never asked for anything but that, and they'd denied her one deepest wish. Beast Boy felt more like a monster than he'd felt when he'd become The Beast. He felt, no: he _knew_ that they'd ruined her life. Beast Boy didn't actually believe that it was her fault that Ice was dead. She didn't kill him, after all. And who can help it if they're attacked and overpowered? That wasn't her fault either. As far as B.B. was concerned, Robin was exaggerating the whole ordeal. But Beast Boy had been just as bad by blaming her for Terra's "death". _She_ didn't make Terra go to Slade, _she_ didn't make Terra try and kill him, and_ she_ didn't make Terra betray them. On the contrary; _she_ had tried the hardest out of all of them to _fight_ Terra in order to protect her friends. She'd only done what any decent friend would've done in that same situation, and _he'd_ blamed her for it. Beast Boy didn't think he could ever forgive himself, and if _he _couldn't, then how could she? Beast Boy felt like a traitor. He made up his mind to swallow his pride and try to apologize, because even if she didn't forgive him, he could ease his conscience by having at least _tried_. He got up from the table, where he'd been sitting alone while pondering over his strange situation, and made his way to the elevator. Once he was on the correct floor, he got out, took a deep breath, & went to her door. If he'd have been thinking clearer or not concentrating so deeply on what he was going to say, he might've heard a muffled _thud_ of something heavy hitting the floor, or the gentle rustle of something being hauled across a carpet, or the faint whimper of one in pain. No matter what the cause, all of these sounds went unnoticed…that is, until he opened the door…

Robin had been sitting in the Slade-room, pondering the Ice-case. He knew that something was wrong, but he simply _couldn't _figure out what it was. Something about this case had been giving him the feeling that he was _missing_ something, and that feeling, no more than a tease in the back of his head, was what had made him keep Raven on the team. As long as that nagging feeling remained, he couldn't just throw her out for fear of possibly losing what it was that was missing. It was this point that he was reviewing when he heard Beast Boy's shout for help. Not even stopping to consider what it might be that he needed help with, he bolted downstairs, rushing beside Starfire and Cyborg, who had also taken off to help. The sound had come from Raven's room, so that's where they ran to. Once there, however, lied a scene that they were entirely unprepared for. Slade was standing over the crumpled form of Raven, while Beast Boy, in alligator form, was biting his left leg. Blood was seeping from the leg of the madman's suit, dripping down Beast Boy's jaws, leaving a puddle on the floor across from the one that was slowly spreading beneath Raven's head. Robin, who had completely lost control of himself, launched viciously at the pinned criminal. Wielding his bo-staff, Robin knocked an unsuspecting Slade unconscious with a single blow. Starfire & Cyborg had to restrain him from attacking Slade again. Beast Boy, however, was at Raven's side immediately, sobbing silently into her violet hair. If she died, he would never forgive himself. In his mind, the entire ordeal was _his_ fault. But, as if one surprise wasn't enough, Terra walked in at that moment. She apparently hadn't her boyfriend's scream, and therefore didn't know about the Slade attack. All she saw was Raven's head in Beast Boy's lap while he loving stroked her hair. Rage boiled inside her.

"I thought you loved me!" she screamed, surprising all of the Titans (except for Raven, who was knocked out ). Beast Boy looked up at the infuriated blonde.

"Terra wait, I-," he began, but Terra cut him off with a slap across the face.

"I don't want to hear it!" she screamed. "The only reason I came back to this dump was for you! And what do you do? You go off the girl that _hates_ me so bad that she'd probably kill me in my sleep! God knows that's what she did to Ice!"

"That's a lie," came the voice of a subdued Robin. The others gaped in shock as he shrugged off the restraining hands of his comrades. "I knew that there was something wrong with this whole ordeal since it began. That's why I didn't kick Raven off the team." The others looked at him in confusion. "One of the clues had me puzzled. It clearly pointed away from Raven, but we had no other suspect at the time, so I simply kept things simple by overlooking it. That was a mistake," he said in shame.

"What clue are you talkin' about?" Cyborg asked.

"Slade's bo-staff was found at the scene," Robin whispered. Starfire gasped.

"You mean…it _was_ Slade?" the Tamerainian asked. Robin nodded.

"I just didn't want to believe that he was still alive after the time that I started hallucinating," he said forlornly. "I felt like you guys would think that I was just trying to hold on to whatever hope I had left that I could catch Slade…that you guys wouldn't think that I couldn't let it go," he said, sighing. "I could've had Raven wrongly convicted for a murder she didn't commit. I could've cost a life, just because I was worried about what other people would think of me."

"Well, I don't know 'bout y'all, but _I_ for one don't think that Slade's gonna cuff himself when he comes to," Cyborg said, kneeling down beside the crumpled figure. The others nodded in agreement & helped him get Slade into restraints.

"Will she be all right?"

"I am most certain that she will recover safely, friend Beast Boy."

"You're sure, Star?"

"I am…what you call…positive."

"Okay then."

"Hey, man. You should seriously get some sleep an' somethin' to eat. You've been in here for like, _three days_."

"I don't wanna leave Raven here alone."

"She won't be alone, Beast Boy. Cyborg, Starfire, and I will be here."

"But…I wanna be there when she wakes up…so that I can…I can apologize."

"Man, if ya need ta apologize ta anybody right now, it's Terra. She thinks ya don't love her."

"I-I don't, Cyborg. I love Raven. And…I hafta tell her that."

* * *

Chapter 7: Forgiveness

"I-I don't, Cyborg. I love Raven. And…I hafta tell her that." The words penetrated Raven's fogged mind like a lighthouse. She could see Happy & Love dancing in the back of her mind, but she wanted to answer him. In order to do that, however, she had to break through the mist that had been the only thing around for three days. She was tired; oh so tired; but she pushed her mind out. Farther and farther it went, until she could almost see faint shadows that looked suspiciously like her friends' faces. With the last of her strength, she forced her mind into consciousness. All at once, her senses were assaulted by glaring lights, the smell of bleach & laundry soap, the feel of the smooth sheets, and the faint taste of blood. She thought she would pass out again…that is…until she saw the face she'd been looking for. Beast Boy's deep green eyes were staring into hers, and he realized that she was once again conscious. He smiled at her before alerting the others.

"Hey guys! Guys!" he shouted. "She's up! Raven's awake!" Immediately, her friends, who had been talking quietly amongst themselves, looked over at her.

"Oh joyous! Friend Raven! You are awake! Oh how we have missed you!" Starfire squealed.

"'Bout time ya woke up, Rae," Cyborg said, grinning. Robin smiled, but looked like he was feeling guilty. She didn't have the energy to wonder why, however. She was mortally tired.

"It's good to see too, guys," she said, her weak voice barely more than a whisper. "But I'm really, _really_ tired." The others nodded and, slowly, left the room, demanding that she get enough sleep so as to return to health. All except for Beast Boy, that is. He sat down on a small chair next to her & took her hand gently in his.

"Raven, I…I wanted to tell you that-that I'm sorry. For everything. For not saving you when Slade attacked, and for not sticking up for you about Ice, and for ignoring you, and for being awful to you, and for being so annoying, and-" Raven lightly placed a finger against his lips, signaling him to be silent. He obliged.

"It wasn't your fault…any of it. And I'm sorry too, Beast Boy."

"Don't be, Rae. If you're sorry, then that means that you're regretting something, and that means that you're sad. I don't want you to be sad anymore Raven. I-I…I love you," he whispered, a single tear trailing down his cheek. She smiled.

"I love you, too," she whispered. Slowly, she sat up, looked into his emerald eyes, and kissed him. When they finally broke away (which took too long to have time for me to write out completely ), Raven slid down onto the mattress and went to sleep, still holding his hand.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered, kissing her lightly on the forehead, glad that they had both, finally, been forgiven.

* * *

Oaky...wel...that's a wrap, unless you want me to include a chappie where Robin explains everything to Rae. Tell me in your reviews! 


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